One of the current challenges in trademark law addressed in Seattle last week at the Amazon Corporate Conference Center, host of the 2017 McCarthy Institute and Microsoft Corporation Symposium, is an issue we have discussed quite a bit here, namely Trademark Disparagement and the First Amendment. The panel to discuss this weighty topic
Microsoft
Microsoft’s New Battle: Toads
It isn’t often that Forbes and Arcade Sushi are reporting on the same story. But some news is so big, so ground breaking, and so important that all media outlets cannot, in good moral consciousness, fail to comply with their duty to inform the public. Obviously, I’m talking about Microsoft’s potential reboot of the Battletoads…
Show More Value, or Lose The Sale
— Neil F. Anderson, Founder & President, The Courage Group, Inc.
Now days, it’s tough for any business, regardless of size, to successfully compete and win new business.
The days of signing up new clients or customers with ease are long gone. The past recession, the anemic economy, the fierce competition and impact of the internet have all made it very difficult to close the sale. Now you have to fight “tooth and nail” to get more new customers.
Breaking News: The reasons really don’t matter. What matters most is generating revenue, continuing to pay the bills, grow the business and stay out of the business failure graveyard.
What will help? Three words-offer more value. Try this strategy on for size, always give people more value for their hard earned money.
Eight Offering More Value Tips
1. Do Your Homework-To win new business, by adding more value, you first need to know what the other guy is doing. That means updating or writing your business plan.
A business plan is simply a written description of what you are going to do and how you are going to do it. It is your roadmap to success.
One of the best reasons for writing a business plan is that it will force you to examine your competition. You can’t add value to your products or services until you have a strong understanding of what your competitors are offering.
Note-Check out the below entrepreneurs, who recognized the value of writing a business plan. Recognized the opportunity to add more value, based on their knowledge of the competition, then delivered it in order to win business and successfully grow the company.
* Phil Knight/Founder of Nike/Annual Revenue-$24 BB/44,000 employees
* Fred Smith/Founder of FedEx/Annual Revenue-$46BB/300,000 employees
* Jim Koch/Co-Founder/Sam Adams/Annual Revenue/$794MM/840 employees
* Jeff Bezos/Founder of Amazon.com/Annual Revenue-$74MM/132,000 employees
A Window into the Future for Apple’s Trade Dress?
A few weeks back, Steve discussed Apple’s recent applications to register a trio of non-verbal trademarks, shown below:
(Each image links to the corresponding application on file with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office – USPTO).
Spoiler alert:
This post contains the USPTO’s ultimate decision regarding the registrability of the design and layout of various…
Apple’s Word Count for Non-Verbal Branding
A picture is said to say a thousand words, and ironically that is almost literally and exactly true when it comes to Apple’s focus on non-verbal icon branding.
A week before the 4th of July, Apple filed these three non-verbal trademark applications:


[caption id=”attachment_23183″ align=”alignleft”…
Copyright Infringement Can Impact Your Brand
– Debbie Laskey, MBA
Have you ever spent hours working on a document for work? That’s a silly question because most of us who recognize Microsoft software and SlideShare have spent countless hours working on executive briefs, lengthy project reports, presentation decks, and much, much more.
Normally, we give our work product to our…
Are we ready for Big Data to buy Big Ad?
– Jason Voiovich, Vice President, Marketing, Logic PD
Ad agencies are in a bit of a data land grab.
For the past five years, the big agencies conglomerates have been falling over themselves to acquire or build digital marketing practices. More recently, that focus has evolved into an unstoppable urge to not miss the boat…
Xbox One: Single Player Lawsuits Only
– Derek Allen, Attorney –
Microsoft is dropping its new console, the Xbox One, just in time for Christmas this year. The official unveiling occurred last month and reviews have been . . . mixed. The most controversial aspects of the console were requirements that the console be able to access the internet…
Apple Store Design Now a Registered Trademark
–Catlan McCurdy, Attorney
Duets readers everywhere may recall my shock back in June 2011 when I encountered the first Microsoft brick-and-mortar store at the Mall of America. Now, about two years later, the store is still there, located right across the aisle from Apple . The crowd levels in the stores seemed close to the…
Rebranding in the Social Media Age and Recent Uproar Over UC Logo
By Debbie Laskey , MBA
Did you see the sequels for Rocky, Star Wars, or Harry Potter? If you did, then you understand the concept of a movie sequel. Some characters are the same, and some plot lines continue, but above all, the brands remain the same. Directors and producers spend millions to make sure…